Using the web to propell your business to visibility

Using a webinar host

From Stephen Beck

Recording your webinar is a very smart thing to do. Anytime you are having a webinar, you should record it, unless it contains proprietary information and you are not allowed to record it for some reason.

I really want to give you a few tips for recording your webinar, but beforehand, here are a few reasons as to WHY you would want to record your webinar at all:

#1 – So you’ll have replays

You’ll be surprised how many people who can’t attend one of your webinars live still want to check out your services and products. Think of how often you may be interested in a live event going on, but aren’t able to make it during the time that the event is happening. So it’s a fantastic idea to provide a replay to get more sales. Another added bonus is that your customers can forward the replay to others virally. In addition, they can watch it at their leisure and replay the especially helpful parts.

#2 – So you can create products

It’s amazing how many different products you can create by recording one simple webinar presentation. For starters, you can upload your webinar recording into a password protected membership site. You can duplicate DVD’s that you can sell as stand-alone products. Another option is to have the webinar audio transcribed and then turn the transcription into 20-30 unique articles that are already in your voice.

Another really great idea is to take a series of webinars and turn them into an informative course that you sell. You can create workbooks, a series of videos, articles…you get the idea.

#3 – Provide more in-depth training

This is another way to offer “product creation” like we just discussed above. Recording a webinar is a great way to add value to an existing product or even provide extra training on any given topic if you want to go into more detail. You can also record your webinars and give them away as bonuses with the purchase of one of your bigger products.

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How To Record Your Webinar

Recording your webinar is very easy…much easier than you may think. However, if does require a little advance planning in order to run and record a smooth webinar. I recommend practicing your first one on a friend or family member as a dry run so you will feel more confident on your very first live webinar.

The extra savvy computer user will be fine doing this for the first time on the night of the live webinar. However, no matter what your computer expertise, it’s a great idea to give yourself some extra time to get set up and make sure everything is going smoothly before your webinar begins.

Many webinar hosting companies provide the option of allowing you to record your webinar on your own, but it’s ALWAYS a good idea to generate a backup recording yourself. For starters, you’ll likely end up with an easier format for editing if you record it yourself. Also, you can often get a better recording than the webinar companies provide for you. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

FIRST STEP:Log into your webinar host company. You are the “Organizer”, so you’ll need to log in using your automatically generated organizer link. Make sure you don’t share this link with anyone else, or it can create some major problems for you.

SECOND STEP: In order to record your webinar as a backup, you’ll want to login to your webinar using an “attendee” link on your recording computer. Whatever you do, DO NOT use the “organizer link” on your recording computer. That should only be used on the computer in which you are running the webinar.

Your second computer should already be loaded with screen capture software, like Camtasia. This will allow you to “capture” your webinar exactly as viewers see it on the screen. With this kind of software, you will be able to easily record all of the video AND the audio. Once your recording is over, you can convert the file in to any time of file you need.